Status Updates From THE OWL SERVICE 1975 BRITIS...

huw is urging gwyn to help alison and he's like "I can't! You don't know what these two have done. I can't touch her" and i'm guessing this is from the influence of the original three (alison and roger haven't done anything together) but it still feels vaguely adult for a children's book. what needs to be done to break the spell is not clear

22 chapters done. has gwyn 'run away'? he was upset after roger disparaged him and he felt like alison had blabbed all his private information. it's near the end now. nancy has given her notice. the two of them probably should have just left without notice. the dynamics in that house are just terrible

roger is a massive tool for disparaging gwyn for wanting to improve himself. gwyn is already in a lower situation than roger by way of birth. i hope something horrible happens to him by the end of the book

gwyn is very persistent and alison is all 'mummy says i can't go to choir or tennis if i see you' and um the consequences don't seem very dire? but also gwyn should respect her boundaries, her not turning up five times means she doesn't want to see him

geeze roger is condescending when alison asks him to develop her photos "i know what it'll be; bad grouping, camera shake, sun on the lens" etc etc and NO ONE SAYS ANYTHING like seriously why does he and his dad assume her work will be bad i have issues with this attitude

17 chapters done. gwyn and alison are arranging to secretly meet every day. gywn has plans for his life, he's gonna strive to get ahead. gwyn has said huw is somehow related to the original three, like a descendent? how this is all going to end i'm not sure. they can't kill off gywn and roger in a kid's book. they need to somehow let the power run it's course and have a clear ending where it stops / everyone is free

alison has been instructed by her mother not to talk to gwyn but she's still doing it and being all, "oh me mustn't!"

ngl, this book did make me question if the author's wife had perhaps strayed (best scenario) or fallen in love with someone else (worst scenario) but while he's been married twice there's no allusions to anything like that online...

okay so gwyn's mother nancy was in a relationship with alison's father's cousin that she inherited the estate by. they were supposed to marry but something happened. this is getting complicated. is he the father? are alison and gwyn blood relatives? this is very tangled

oh wait i misunderstood. gwyn's not supposed to be the husband, he's the equivalent of the secret lover. there really was a message in the sprouts, i thought that that was some sort of old fashioned metaphor but it was literal. this book is very confusing. roger trying to get an adult (huw) fired is something. huw knows everything, is he supposed to be the wizard who created the wife in the first place? i'm not sure

chapter 11 done. gwyn and alison have "spent the night together" in the hen house (in a completely innocent way) but i assume this is setting gwyn up as the husband in the legend

there's also something shifty about the three adults (clive, huw and nancy) like the three of them are linked also and maybe this disaster somehow befalls each generation in a different way

how a kid could follow this baffles me

first nine chapters done. the legend has been related a bit more clearly now: wizard makes a wife for man #1. wife pursues man #2 romantically. man #2 kills man #1, wizard resurrects him, man #1 kills man #2 and the wife gets turned into an owl. it's a disaster for everybody but as huw says "none of them is to blame, together they are destroying each other". in between his moments of clarity he's acting really weird

first seven chapters done. gwyn's acting strangely. when his mother wouldn't give him an advance on his pocket money he left an owl pellet from the loft in her wallet.

at the shops the women in town seem to know that "she's coming" as huw has said, and that they "must bear it, there's no escaping" - i don't quite understand who is coming and why it will be bad for everyone

up to chapter six. nancy wants the loft nailed shut but has a problem with huw and won't let him in the house. the plates are mysteriously shattering on their own. huw's grandfather made the plates. huw tells them about the stone of gronw (unsure if this is right: man kills husband and takes up with the wife. dead husband comes back and kills man???) am mildly confused

honestly half the reason this is so confusing is the dated language

"I'd better go and butter up the old darling... don't worry, I'll buy her a packet of fags to keep her happy." To me this sounds like an adult talking about a disgruntled elderly neighbour who's made a noise complaint. But it's actually a teenage son talking about his mother. It sounds so weird to me, almost disrespectful given their relationship...

chapter three: i've finally figured out all the characters. two adults: clive and margaret who are a couple. their children: roger (boy #2) and alison. the help: huw and nancy. nancy's son: gwyn (boy #1)

at first when the girl said 'it's my house' i thought she meant that's where she lived but now i think she meant the house is in her name (!!!) you have to pay close attention to follow this book, it's hard work

chapter two: boy number two is in the yard when something goes flying by. then he finds the hole in the rock - it may foreshadow what his role will be? the housekeeper is strange about huw and tells her son not to talk to him. the house seems to belong to the girl's family. boy number one reveals he had a spell when he first touched the plate

it makes more sense now after reading ahead

alright so i've just re-read chapter one. scratchy noises in the attic that sound suspiciously responsive. there are two kids. the boy has gone up to investigate. he's brought down a plate. i didn't notice the first time but on the second reading it's clear the girl and boy aren't related because the girl says things like 'your mother's calling you'. i might do a chapter each day to try and understand this book

got to about 40% through and was so confused i decided to start over. (normally i'd just DNF but understanding this story is important to me).

huw seems to knows the full story; a love triangle, a betrayal. the household wanting to board up the loft almost seems like a metaphor. i don't really feel like this is a book for children

i wasn't expecting it for a children's book but the story is kind of hard to follow. there are three kids, two are well to do, one is not. there's two parents plus a housekeeper and a handyman guy huw (who seems half mad but is just in touch with things). taking the plates has unleashed all sorts of strangeness. the unfamiliar language is possibly making me miss things? everything feels blurry and confusing

end of chapter two. from what i gather there are three children (siblings?) and so far two adults, one is an employee. one of the adults has told the girl to return the plate (there's something about the attic the adults all know about but the kids don't) and she does except it's a fake substitute which honestly seems unrealistic but i'll overlook it. i can't quite tell how they are related to each other

just finished chapter one. there's a weird noise in the attic that seems to respond to them. the boy has brought down a plate for the girl. the prose is really old fashioned in the best sort of way